Recent Results
March 2010
H-WORLD Discussion TopicsCurrent Journal Contents Here are topics of recent and lively H-WORLD discussions on issues relevant to research. For details, see the H-WORLD discussion logs at http://www.h-net.org/~world
- March 2010 ( postings total)
- In process.
- February 2010 (100 postings total)
- "Condoms in history," "Condoms and sexuality in history," (2/8 - 2/13). A brief discussion on condoms and homosexuality in world history. The absence of a discussion of these topics based on a social, rather than a civilisation model, is discussed, and a small bibliographic list of potentially related texts is located in Phil Sinitiere's post in the thread.
- "Defining world history outside of the West," (2/1 - 2/9). Ricardo duchesne opens the thread with this statement: "There's a reason Professor Fahey did not recall any major contributions to world history from Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist realms: I believe there are none..." Selcuk Esenbel responds, "I occasionally contribute to the interesting discussions in world history and felt the dire need for an intervention. This idea of no world history contribution outside of the West is really amazing for its lack of factual knowledge..." Citing several non-Western world historians, Esenbel explains that "The serious problem lies in the fact that Non European sources still have not been translated into European languages in sufficient numbers so that most historians simply are not aware of the texts in other linguistic/cultural traditions." Around these two statements, a heated debate is carried, addressing the question of whether the West really "invented" history.
- "Summer institutes for world history?" (2/3 - 2/13). Michael Seth requests recommendations for good summer intensive programs, and a number of varying location are suggested.
- January 2010 (120 postings total)
- "Haiti and world history," (1/19 - 1/25). Alyssa Sepinwall asks the list how they plan to adjust or enhance their coursework in light of the Haitian tragedy. She suggests several methods for integrating a greater portion of Haitian history into several different kinds of courses. The list responds, mainly querying about what reading - racism or imperialism - is more appropriate, but branches out to include a far-flung spread of topics regarding various aspects of Haitian history, from its contrast with its baseball-prosperous neighbor the Dominican Republic to the possible 'whitewashing' of the story of its history. Many web resources, links to news articles, and collected bibliographic citations are provided in-thread.
- "Humor in history," (1/14 - 1/20). Interested in lightening the material for his students and raising their interest in their texts, Roger Hill asks the list how they integrate humor into their world history and global history classrooms. Among the many suggestions are "1066 and All That," political cartoons of present time and of the historical period in question, and the modern satire newspaper The Onion. Along with a wealth of bibliographic references, the temporal and cultural barriers to understanding history of other times and peoples is discussed.
- "Revolution and reformation in a global context," (1/11 - 1/29). The question of when and how much to mention the Reformation in survey courses is discussed at length among the list. While resources for approaching the topic are offered by some, others opine that despite the global trend toward religious shifts in the 15th to early 17th centuries, and the Reformation's impact on secularism across Europe, the Reformation itself is not worth spending excessive class time on. A long and strongly debated thread.